Deepak Bhardwaj murder: Cops declare Rs.1 lakh bounty for ‘godman'

The Delhi Police on Friday declared a cash reward of Rs.1 lakh for the elusive godman who had allegedly played a ‘major role’ in the conspiracy to kill BSP leader and business tycoon Deepak Bhardwaj late last month. HT reports.

The Delhi Police on Friday declared a cash reward of Rs.1 lakh for the elusive godman who had allegedly played a ‘major role’ in the conspiracy to kill Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and business tycoon Deepak Bhardwaj late last month.

Officers investigating the incident say getting their hands on Swami Pratibhanand — who acted as a link between the main conspirators Nitesh Bhardwaj and Baljeet Singh Sehrawat and the contract killers — will be very difficult.

“He has stopped contacting his aides over the phone because of all the media attention that has been generated. We believe he is somewhere in southern India and several teams are attempting to track him down,” said an officer.

Meanwhile, the police formally arrested one Pradeep for his alleged involvement in the contract hit supposed to be valued at R5 crore.

According to the police, Pradeep, who had been handed over to the south district police by the crime branch within days of Bhardwaj’s murder, had helped the contract killers to get their hands on illegal weapons.

“He is a resident of northwest Delhi and had been roped in by Amit, the driver of the Skoda Laura car used in the commission of the hit, to help procure weapons for Purushottam Rana and Sunil Mann,” said an officer.